Seven days from the date the Fair Work Commission sends the employer a copy of the application. The response is lodged on Form F3 and there is no filing fee. Missing the deadline risks the Commission dealing with the claim, and making orders, without your input.

The employee lodges an application within 21 days of the dismissal, the Commission sends the employer a copy together with a conciliation date, and the employer files a response within 7 days. Most matters settle at conciliation with an independent Commission conciliator; unresolved claims proceed to a conference or hearing before a Commission Member.

Read the allegations, diarise the 7-day deadline, gather your evidence (contract, warnings, performance records, termination letter), then lodge Form F3 — or Form F4 if objecting on jurisdictional grounds such as contractor status, genuine redundancy or the minimum employment period — and prepare your settlement position before conciliation.

The Fair Work Commission is expanding its MyFWC portal so that unfair dismissal and general protections dismissal cases are managed online from start to finish. From 19 October 2026 users can apply online, view case details, see party and representative contact details, access and upload case documents, view directions, decisions and orders, and access proceedings. All new dismissal cases will be managed through the portal from that date.

MyFWC is offline from 8pm AEDT on Friday 16 October to 8am AEDT on Monday 19 October 2026 while the expansion is implemented. During the outage, dismissal applications can be lodged by downloading the relevant form and emailing it to lodge@fwc.gov.au. Strict deadlines, including the 21-day lodgement deadline, continue to run during the outage, so parties should plan filings around it.

The timetable is driven largely by conciliation. A conciliation is usually listed within a few weeks of the employer’s response being filed, and most claims settle or are withdrawn at that stage. Unresolved matters run for several months or longer. Employers should build their evidence file immediately rather than waiting for a hearing date.

Yes, provided the employee served the 12-month minimum employment period that applies to small businesses with fewer than 15 employees. The employer’s protection is the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code: if the business followed the Code, including giving the employee a chance to respond to any valid reason, the dismissal is deemed fair and the claim will not succeed.

In unfair dismissal matters the maximum compensation is $95,050 — half the $190,100 high income threshold from 1 July 2026 — and reinstatement can also be ordered. General protections dismissal claims are not capped and separate civil penalties can apply, so combined claims carry materially higher exposure.

Yes. From 19 October 2026 all new dismissal cases run through the expanded portal, and existing cases also move to MyFWC unless already allocated to a Commission Member. The Commission contacts affected parties, but employers with a live matter should confirm with their representative how the move affects upcoming directions and filings.